e-Cigarette Use in College Linked to Depression

A new study has found a connection between depression and e-cigarette use among college students.

Researchers from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), discovered that students with elevated levels of depression symptoms were significantly more likely (than students who did not experience elevated levels of depressive symptoms) to start using e-cigarettes with a six-month period.

The emergence of e-cigarettes as a nicotine product has left scientists with many questions about their impact on health, including how the product interacts with depression.

The study, published in Nicotine & Tobacco Research, found a connection between depression and initiation of e-cigarette use among college students, but e-cigarette use did not appear to lead to elevated depression levels among the students.

“This is the first study to establish a longitudinal relationship between elevated depressive symptoms and e-cigarette use,” said lead author Frank Bandiera, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics and Environmental Sciences at UTHealth School of Public Health in Dallas.

Investigators reviewed a sample of 5,445 undergraduate students from 24 colleges across Texas who experienced elevated levels of depressive symptoms.

“We don’t know why depression leads to e-cigarette use. It may be self-medication. Just like with cigarettes, when students feel stressed out, using e-cigarettes may make them feel better.

Or it could be that since e-cigarettes have been marketed as a smoking cessation device, depressed students may be using e-cigarettes to help them quit smoking traditional cigarettes,” said Bandiera.

Researchers note that there is little published clinical research to support that e-cigarettes help people quit smoking traditional cigarettes.

Bandiera was surprised by the results since previous research showed a reciprocal relationship between depression and traditional cigarette use. He assumed the same would be true for e-cigarettes.

“Since e-cigarettes typically deliver less nicotine per puff than cigarettes, it is possible that the lower content of nicotine in e-cigarettes could explain the null findings,” Bandiera wrote in the paper.

The data used for the study was collected by the Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science on Youth and Young Adults (Texas TCORS). This a center was created by several of the University of Texas System institutions to develop research that can guide future decisions on tobacco regulations at the national level.

The researchers chose to study college students because the prevalence of e-cigarette use is higher among adolescents and young adults.

Nicotine exposure during adolescence and young adulthood can cause addiction and harm the developing brain, according to the U.S. Surgeon General’s Report on E-Cigarette Use Among Youth and Young Adults.

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About Rick Nauert PhD

Dr. Rick Nauert has over 25 years experience in clinical, administrative and academic healthcare. He is currently an associate professor for Rocky Mountain University of Health Professionals doctoral program in health promotion and wellness. Dr. Nauert began his career as a clinical physical therapist and served as a regional manager for a publicly traded multidisciplinary rehabilitation agency for 12 years. He has masters degrees in health-fitness management and healthcare administration and a doctoral degree from The University of Texas at Austin focused on health care informatics, health administration, health education and health policy. His research efforts included the area of telehealth with a specialty in disease management.